FFXV: Wolf Howling at the Moon
by Banana007
Summary: Ravus was there when Luna was born, and he was there the day Ardyn murdered her. And nobody knew how much he mourned his sister's death. Nobody knew of the letters he had written to her. Nobody knew how he had to bury Pryna in his sister's field of Sylleblossoms. Because nobody knew how much Ravus truly loved his dearest little sister, Luna. This is the story of Ravus Nox Fleuret.
1. Luna

**FFXV: Wolf Howling at the Moon**

BY: TCOOKIES777

 **Chapter 1: Luna**

* * *

 _Rise o moon for it is time for the wolf to howl._

 _Time for the Sky to be filled with his mournful song._

 _The wolf is awake, roaming and longing for your light to show him the path._

"It is time."

 _Rise o moon, for the hunter is prowling._

 _His moment of triumph is breaking with the glow of your waning light._

 _Your ominous form fueling graceful strides._

"My Lord...?"

 _Rise o moon, the wolf's heart is beating, racing._

 _The hunt has begun and the ending is near._

 _When the wolf howls…_

"Lord Ravus?"

The boy looked up from the book he was reading to meet the soft gaze a middle-aged woman smiling excitedly down at him. Her chestnut hair, streaked gray at the temples, was pinned up into a perfect bun. Slightly weathered hands from handling menial chores clasped together before her breast. A simple ivory tunic under a deep blue servant's attire graced her roundish figure, accompanied by a crisp clean apron wrapped around her middle with a dishcloth hanging at the side. The woman gestured to the open doorway on the far left of the hallway. "Her Majesty awaits you, Lord Ravus."

The four-year-old boy glanced back down at the page he had yet to finish. His fingers itched to dog-ear the page so as to not lose his spot but he didn't want to ruin his favorite book. It was one of the last gifts his father had bestowed upon him before a disease had peacefully lured him into the Beyond. Closing the book, the boy quickly ran his hand down the leather cover, feeling the engraved words that made up the title of his favorite story, _Fenrir_.

He set the book aside and hopped off the bench he'd been resting on for hours. The ever faithful family attendant trailed diligently behind the young royal as he walked towards the room where his mother awaited him. With every step he took, his belly fluttered with anxiety. Though his emotions did not appear on his face, it surely showed through his actions once he reached the threshold of his mother's room.

"Thank you, Maria." He nodded at the attendant who bowed her head and returned to directing the other maids.

The little lord quickly brushed back his perfectly groomed blonde hair and straightened the lapels on his ivory suit, ensuring every button was in place. Taking a deep breath, he dared a peek into the quiet room, only to see nothing but a pile of sea blue blankets. A small lamp atop the bedside table glowed softly but it was the light of the midnight moon that illuminated the room. Maids skittered past him carrying polite smiles and blankets stained scarlet to which he gulped at the sight of.

"Ravus?"

A tired but loving voice called out to him and he automatically trekked closer to the source in response. As he reached the side of the bed, the face that greeted him was not his beloved mother. It was not what he expected but, then again, he did not know what to expect. He definitely did not expect a wide set of bright blue eyes staring at him in wonder. Nor did he expect those beautiful eyes to belong to a chubby face with skin so pale that the moonlight filtering down upon it seemed to give it a divine glow. In contrast, the cheeks were flushed a rosy pink as if the thing was about ready to explode with happiness and love.

"Can we name it 'Fenrir'?" Ravus asked the woman cradling the thing swathed in her arms.

The queen chuckled quietly but said, "A strong name indeed, my son, but I do not think it befits that of a princess."

Ravus looked sharply to his mother at that last word. Slowly, he turned his gaze back to the creature squirming within the blankets wrapped around it, blinking its innocent crystal blue eyes at him. "I have a sister?"

He couldn't help but frown down at his new sibling. Ever since his mother broke news of what was to come, Ravus had always entertained the idea of having a sibling to lead so long as it was a brother. Sometimes, he'd fantasize of the two running down the halls pretending to be airships. They'd wrestle for fun, explore the woods surrounding the land, seeing who could climb the highest. They'd practice fencing together as sparring partners and go hunting once they were older. Or so he had secretly hoped.

"Luna." His mother whispered down at the infant. "Lunafreya."

At the sound of her name, the baby's eyes crinkled and her small lips broke into a toothless grin. A giggle—or was it a gurgle?—bubbled from her mouth as she continued staring eagerly at Ravus.

"Would you like to hold her?

What? Hold that thing? Sure, it was cute but… he still needed time to get used to this… _her_. Ravus began to shake his head but his mother was already sitting upright to hold out the creature to him. Although he continued shaking his head, his arms, slightly shaking with nerves, began moving to accept the small bundle. His mother carefully settled the baby into his arms, instructing him to support his sister's head. As soon as Ravus held Luna, a strange sense of calmness steadied his hands and soothed the ball of anxiety that had been tightening in his chest.

"Hello, my name is Prince Ravus Nox Fleuret of Tenebrae." He formally introduced himself as he'd been taught, making sure to enunciate and speak his words clearly for the sake of this fledgling.

The baby cooed at him for a moment until it turned its attention to the full moon, surrounded by a blanket of stars and shining through the window. Assuming she wished for a better look at the nighttime view, Ravus turned and stepped closer to the floor length window through which the silver light filtered in. It could have just been his imagination but Ravus thought that the constellations appeared especially bright this night.

She giggled and squirmed in his arms slightly to pull out a chubby arm and raise it towards the window. A small grin pulled at the corners of Ravus's mouth in amusement as he watched his new sister try to touch the holy rays of the moonlight. As he gazed down at her innocent face, Ravus felt a tug at the very fiber of his soul. It wasn't anxiety-no, it was the same feeling he felt whenever he saw his mother and father.

Love, his parents had once told him.

As Ravus stared at those curious blue eyes, he decided he would be the one to teach her love just as his parents did with him. The smile on his face spread until he himself felt he'd explode with joy, and he whispered down to his baby sister, "It's nice to meet you, Luna."


	2. Sylleblossoms

**FFXV: Wolf Howling at the Moon**

BY: TCOOKIES777

 **Chapter 2: Sylleblossoms**

* * *

 **Luna – eight months old**

 **Ravus – five years old**

* * *

 _Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click._

"Maria? …. Maria!"

"Yes, yes, what is it?" The middle aged woman turned to the young butler in navy blue attire frantically jogging up to her. She had been staring at the garden, filled with wildflowers and Sylleblossoms, just outside the glass doors of the entertainment room, holding a pile of neatly folded laundry in her arms.

"Maria, oh goodness, it's Lord Ravus!" The man breathed out once he reached the high ranking attendant. It was obvious he'd been walking as fast as he could, what with the way he panted despite trying to keep his composure by fixing his dark hair back into place. "H-he's gone missing!"

"Oh my, _again_?" Maria clicked her tongue out of disapproval. "Best not inform Her Majesty, James. She has gone to visit the late king."

"W-What shall I tell Professor Strudwick?" James asked nervously. "It's already the second time this month."

"Dismiss the professor for now; I shall call him once I find the young lord and give him a good earful."

"Are you sure?" The young butler wrung his fingers with doubt although his feet were already peddling out of the room slowly.

"Yes, it's all right." Nodding reassuringly, Maria waved the man away until he completely left the room. She stood still, waiting as the last of his hurried footsteps stopped echoing down the halls. Then she faced the garden and sighed, one hand already on her hip. "It is not wise to shirk your lessons, My Lord."

A few seconds passed before a young face, streaked with dirt across the nose, popped out of the bushes a few feet away. "Politics are a bore!"

" _That_ I must agree." Maria chuckled, leaning down to help the young royal out of the shrubs and brush off the dirt coating his white slacks. While picking a leaf out of his otherwise perfectly groomed hair, she asked, "Now what were you doing in your mother's garden?"

"I wanted to show Luna the Sylleblossoms." Ravus replied excitedly, holding up the said flower by the stem. "Mother loves them, so surely my sister will as well!"

"Indeed, that is a wonderful idea, Your Highness." Maria smiled warmly, clasping her hands together once she finished making the royal presentable again. "I'm sure Lady Lunafreya will appreciate the gesture. However, might I advise returning to Professor Strudwick once you've finished entertaining the young Lady? I think you'll find his Military Science course quite intriguing as soon as he finishes the political history of Tenebrae."

"Well, I suppose…" Ravus grinned for a moment before his eyes widened. "You won't tell Mother, will you?"

He was acing all of his studies without difficulty but, even so, Ravus didn't want his mother to be concerned over something so small such as him simply skipping his lessons for once. Or twice. He was young, but he knew how burdening it was to be the sole ruler of the leading nations in the world. He also knew that there was a particular issue stressing the queen and her council but he had yet to find out what it was.

"Please don't tell Mother…" Ravus said quietly, fiddling with the flower between his slim fingers.

"Tell your Mother? About what?" Already feigning ignorance, Maria turned back towards the laundry she had set aside on an armchair.

The grin returned to Ravus's face again and he muttered a quick 'thank you' before scurrying off lest she change her mind. As he did so, Maria continued smiling.

* * *

"See here, Luna?" Ravus murmured as he slipped up to his sister's crib. "I brought you something special."

The flower he held in his hand was in full bloom, as he had made sure to pick only the finest one from the garden grounds. The deep azure petals were unique in the sense that it looked like they were fraying at the edges with smaller sky blue petals at the center. It looked as if waves of the sea were swirling, creating the illusion of a mini whirlpool you could admire in the palm of your hand.

He glanced back at the closed door of the nursery room before leaning to whisper, "I've not much time. Henry and Charles only let me in because they're good pals of mine."

The guards outside were aware that Ravus was supposed to be with Professor Strudwick for his studies. However, they couldn't refuse when Ravus requested—more like, demanded—that he be let in to see his sister. He just hoped the two soldiers wouldn't tell on him.

"Here." He slowly lowered the flower down to Luna. After she made several uncoordinated grabs at his thumb, Ravus realized his eight-month old sister was still not strong enough to properly hold the flower herself. With this revelation, he decided to gently lay the flower atop of her belly so that she could still touch it.

"Aguh!" Luna giggled, kicking her tiny feet up into the air out of excitement. Her clear blue eyes flickered between the indigo flower and her older brother as she couldn't seem to decide which interested her the most.

"Yes, I agree, it's very pretty, isn't it?" Ravus brushed a finger against the velvety soft skin of his baby sister's cheek. "I'll ask Mother to have your room decorated with these. Would you like that?"

Luna blew a bubble of saliva at him quietly for a moment before turning her attention back to the blue perennial lying atop of her. Suddenly, she grabbed the flower head with her stubby hands and proceeded to stuff it into her drooling mouth.

"No, Luna, you mustn't eat the petals!" Ravus exclaimed, frantically trying to pry the blossom out of his sister's firm clutches as gently as possible. A few petals drifted down as Ravus picked up the flower again but, other than that, the head remained intact. One petal fell onto the center of Luna's face and she went still for a second before suddenly releasing a sharp squeak. Ravus blinked down at his sister in surprise, and then a grin split on his face. "Bless you."

Luna kicked her feet restlessly but a burst of breathless giggles bubbled out of her in response. Holding the flower over her by the stem, Ravus twirled it to entertain her. "This is a Sylleblossom. We use these to make our crowns and, someday, you and I shall wear Sylleblossoms on our heads, just like Mother and Father."

"Dah!" Luna shouted, allowing more saliva to dribble out the corner of her mouth.

"Hm? Are you hungry?" Ravus said, picking up his sister from the crib. He was only five years old but strong enough to properly hold his eight-month old sister, though she wasn't exactly light in his arms either. His mother once told him that he was stronger than most kids his age because he, and rest of the Fleuret family, were special. He never really understood what his mother meant by that but he was still interested enough to ask later.

Ravus scanned the nursery room while Luna quietly clung to him, burying her face against his chest. The walls were ivory but intricate gold flowers embossed the pillars and edges of the walls. Twin glass doors led to a small balcony just across the door. Her crib had a sheer veil wrapped around to protect from any bugs or the chill of the night, but it was usually slid aside during the day. A set of toy stars hung above the crib and a mechanism in the center, disguised as a crescent moon that glowed at night, played out a gentle lullaby, if cranked, while the stars rotated. A changing station rested against the wall with a large mirror hanging above. He assumed the mahogany drawers beside it contained clothes and other supplies so he walked toward it, tugging a stool over with his foot.

Unable to hold Luna with just one hand, Ravus set her down on the surface of the changing station, carefully watching her from the corner of his eye as he sifted through the drawers for any baby food. Within the second drawer, he found an empty bottle and several cans of formula, one of which he ripped into. Ravus was always told that he needed to eat a lot to grow big and strong, just like his father. So, with this idea in mind, he poured all the formula from the can into the clean bottle, filling it to the brim. _This way, Luna can grow big and strong with me_ , Ravus thought contentedly.

"This is more important than politics, anyways." He said as he stepped off the stool and took both Luna and the filled bottle over to the rocking chair by the balcony doors. Not minding her freshly changed diapers, he sat Luna on his lap and raised the bottle to her mouth. "Here, sister, drink up."

A new trail of drool spilled from Luna's mouth as she eyed the creamy liquid offered to her. Wrapping her chubby hands around the glass circumference, she quickly latched her mouth to the lid and began sucking fervently. As she drank, Ravus watched her closely, supporting the bottle with his free hand while gently rocking themselves back and forth. _I bet Mother would be proud of me for being so responsible_ , Ravus smiled to himself. Once his Mother returned from visiting Father's grave, Ravus would tell her of how he already fed Luna by himself. Hopefully, this would give her more time to focus on the other duties she had as the sole Queen of Tenebrae.

"You drank quite a lot." Ravus observed when he noticed how the bottle was already halfway. It was hard to tell how much time had passed but it was then that Ravus remembered he still had his lessons to attend to. "Sorry, Luna. You're more important than a textbook but the professor will have me memorize the whole text if I don't return soon."

Ravus delicately tugged the bottle away from her grasp, only for the milk that she had yet to swallow, spill down her chin. Frantically looking around the room for a cloth he could clean his sister with, Ravus discovered that there were none to be found. Well, he supposed nobody would notice a stain on his sleeve if he used it. Besides, he couldn't just leave his sister sticky with milk for the rest of the day, and he didn't want to just leave the nanny to take care of the mess.

"Hold still a moment, Luna." Ravus said as he swiped the edge of his sleeve across her mouth and chin. "Come now, I must leave soon."

"Muuh!" Luna whined, turning her head away each time Ravus tried to clean off the milk.

"Shh! Henry and Charles will check in if you're too loud." He whispered while wiping off the last droplets of formula. "A royal cannot have a face sticky with formula. Don't worry, I'm almost done."

"Uh.. uhaah!" Panic hit Ravus full force as he watched his sister's face contort in a split second before releasing the beginnings of a cry.

"No, no, no—don't cry!" Ravus murmured. He began rocking faster in an attempt to calm her down but to no avail. Tears started pouring down her flushed cheeks and he felt distress tighten in his chest at the sight of that. "Hush now! Please don't cry... Mother will be sad... _I_ will be sad, Luna, please..."

He stopped rocking in the chair and, instead, rose her high above his head and up into the air. Swiftly, he pulled Luna back down until their noses were almost touching. Seeing her sea blue eyes widen in surprise at the sudden motion, Ravus repeated the action once more.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Each time elicited more and more giggles from Luna as Ravus rode her up and down in the air. Soon, he found himself chuckling with his sister as she squealed in delight at the free ride. Then, without warning, a wave of formula splashed down onto the front of his pressed day suit, narrowly missing his face by a droplet. Ravus froze, still holding Luna up in midair even as she continued giggling with more puked milk spilling down her chin again.

"Oh dear." He muttered, blinking in shock before slowly lowering Luna back down onto his lap. She continued grinning toothlessly up at Ravus, as if proud of what she had done. Ravus stared at his baby sister with narrowed eyes before sighing in forgiveness. Raising his sleeve to wipe her clean again, he smiled wryly and said, "Now we're _both_ a sticky mess."

In response, Luna's face crinkled with merriment just as she started quaking again in giggles.

.

.

.

.

.

"Ah, Lord Ravus, I see you've finally decided to return." The older man with a gray, handlebar mustache said aloud without turning away from the writing board as Ravus slipped into the study room.

"Apologies for my tardiness, Professor Strudwick." Ravus said from behind, trying to sound as earnest as possible. "Some... urgent matters came up."

"Urgent matters indeed?! …. _OH!_ " As soon as the instructor turned around to glare disapprovingly at the little royal, he stepped back in surprise at the sight before him. Frowning, the elderly professor adjusted his monocle to look more closely at Ravus who sat straight in his desk with his hands neatly clasped… and the entire front of his ivory suit darkened with the stain of milk. It was noted that despite the mess of his attire, not a single blonde hair was out of place. As Ravus continued staring back at him with a blank expression, the befuddled professor stammered out, "O-on second thought, c-c-class dismissed…"


End file.
